Meharry Sickle Cell Center

The year 2011 saw the launch of an exciting concept for families in Tennessee: the
Middle Tennessee Sickle Cell Network for Coordinated Health Care and Education, a
pooling of resources by Vanderbilt, Meharry, and Matthew Walker Comprehensive Health
Center to help families living with sickle cell. The network now offers patients a
'medical home,' where in one place they will find specialists familiar with their
disease. This breakthrough concept contributes greatly to families affected with sickle
cell disease and will likely improve the patient's overall quality of life. Read more
about this 'medical home' at Vanderbilt.

At Meharry, the Sickle Cell Center serves as an important gateway to care. All newborns
in Tennessee are screened for several genetic disorders, and any abnormal samples,
including those showing evidence of sickle cell, are sent to the Meharry Sickle Cell
Center (MSCC) for confirmation. Once the final diagnosis has been made, a nurse contacts
the affected family for follow-up care with a pediatric hematologist. The family then
has the option of building a relationship with the medical team at the Vanderbilt-Meharry-Matthew
Walker center or, if it has a pediatrician in place, integrating the center's services
with those of the family physician.

Adults and adolescents also may find assistance at Meharry's center, which serves
as a liaison between the patient and his or her medical providers.

As the Confirmatory and Reference Laboratory for Hemoglobinopathies for the State
of Tennessee Newborn Screening Program, every year the MSCC tests thousands of blood
samples from all over the state, providing confirmation or diagnosis for a variety
of blood disorders. The MSCC also provides care, counseling, and education to affected
families across 40 counties in Middle Tennessee. Created in 1972, the Meharry Sickle
Cell Center is one of the oldest centers of its kind in the nation and has been recognized
as an honorary chapter of the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America. The MSCC
continues to be involved in several important initiatives to improve sickle cell care
in the country. Its recent partnership with Vanderbilt University and Matthew Walker
Comprehensive Health Center is the celebration of 40 years of committed service to
the sickle cell community.